By Cathy Davidson. Recently I gave a talk at POD (Professinal Organization and Development) Network and was asked what advice I had for pedagogical innovators who were junior, powerless, and fearful. I gave my usual advice: namely, that the riskiest thing you can do in a career is be fearful, overly cautious, self-censoring. Those things are bad for the soul and nothing kills a career faster than being depressed and cynical about that career. More...
By Gerry Canavan. This short essay arises out of my sense that framing academic job searches as a "lottery" might actually encourage, rather than combat, the cruel optimism involved in the process. Read more...
By Nate Kreuter. The academic life, even a “successful” one, is a life filled with rejection. We are rejected from some of the colleges we apply to as high school students, as well as some of the universities where we apply to undertake graduate study. When we graduate yet again and seek academic appointments, rejection becomes an ever-present force as never before, so common in fact that the employers rejecting us have pre-prepared form letters, which they often reuse from year to year, made up to deliver the news, sending them out well beyond the day when we have already realized that we didn’t get the job. Read more...
By . Staff at older universities will begin a marking boycott next week in a row over pension changes. More...
By Rosemarie Emanuele. In Economics, we often talk about inputs in production being either complements or substitutes. If they are complements, like hammers and nails, then they work together to increase output. Alternatively, if two inputs are substitutes, like bricks or siding, then one input may be used in place of the other. I found myself thinking of this recently when I gave students in one of my classes, all working towards a degree in mathematical education, the assignment of attending a conference on teaching mathematics that is being held in Cleveland. I struggled with this a little because I realize that I hardly attend conferences any more, something that I justify by saying that instead of attending conferences, I publish in academic journals. Read more...
By Joshua Kim. How are you deceiving yourself in your higher ed career?By Scott Jaschik. The number of faculty job openings in communication has doubled since 2009, and rose 12 percent in 2013, according to new data from the National Communication Association.
The data and analysis from the association are much more optimistic than are reports coming out of other humanities and social sciences disciplines, many of which are seeing modest growth if any, and are struggling to get their openings back to pre-recessionary totals. Read more...
By Paula Krebs. Most folks at doctoral institutions don't have a clue what goes on in community colleges. The departments don't, the individual faculty members don't, and it would be a rare graduate adviser indeed who had ever set foot on a community college campus. Read more...
By Brandon G. Withrow. For an Evangelical school, the statement of faith is the first job qualification. A search committee may have the perfect candidate, but ultimately, if the person cannot sign the faith statement, he or she is disqualified. This faith distinction is often what’s behind news reports of faculty at Evangelical schools losing their positions over views of LGBTQ rights and identity or creationism. Read more...
Von Lena Greiner. Lehrstuhl oder Arbeitsamt - wohin die Juniorprofessur führt, ist seit ihrer Einführung umstritten. Jetzt zeigt eine neue Studie: Die Zufriedenheit der Nachwuchsforscher ist besser als ihr Ruf. Doch die Untersuchung hat einen Haken./https%3A%2F%2Fprofilepics.canalblog.com%2Fprofilepics%2F1%2F0%2F1076071.jpg)
